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Interpersonal Emotion Regulation: an Experience Sampling Study

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Abstract

People often turn to others for help with regulating their emotions, a process known as interpersonal emotion regulation (IER). Emerging research has begun to document the importance of IER in well-being. However, the basic elements of IER in daily life are still not clearly understood. We aimed to better understand the characteristics of adults’ everyday IER. In this 2-week experience sampling study (five surveys daily), 87 adults (mean age = 45.5 years) reported on whether, from whom (i.e., sharing partner role type and gender), and why (i.e., IER goals) they sought IER. They also indicated which IER strategies their sharing partners used, including putatively supportive (i.e., reappraisal, problem solving, affection, encouraging sharing) and unsupportive (i.e., invalidation, blaming) strategies. Results showed that most people engaged in IER. Using multilevel modeling, we found that people tended to seek IER from close versus non-close others and were more likely to seek emotion-oriented (e.g., empathy) relative to problem-oriented goals (e.g., advice). Sharing partners were more likely to provide (a) supportive than unsupportive strategies, with reappraisal, problem solving, and affection being most frequently endorsed, and (b) problem-oriented supportive strategies (e.g., problem solving) than emotion-oriented supportive strategies (e.g., affection). We also explored gender and age differences in IER. This research contributes to the broader emotion regulation literature by elucidating everyday IER behaviors in adults. Findings highlight the ubiquity of IER as well as people’s tendencies when seeking and providing IER.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1125, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA

    Daphne Y. Liu, Michael J Strube & Renee J. Thompson

Authors
  1. Daphne Y. Liu
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  2. Michael J Strube
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  3. Renee J. Thompson
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Contributions

DYL and RJT conceptualized the study and oversaw data collection and management. DYL and MJS analyzed the data. DYL and RJT collectively wrote this manuscript with MJS providing critical feedback. All three authors have approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daphne Y. Liu.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Hee Yeon Hwang for her help with managing the study and Haijing W. Hallenbeck, Natasha H. Bailen, and Alison B. Tuck for their feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Funding Information

This research was supported by the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Fellowship, Washington University in St. Louis, to Daphne Y. Liu.

Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the Open Science Framework repository, https://osf.io/7hzdv/?view_only=7887c8e2cdbf40dd9fb961b252d57369.

Code Availability

R code used to conduct the analyses in the current study is available in the Open Science Framework repository, https://osf.io/7hzdv/?view_only=7887c8e2cdbf40dd9fb961b252d57369.

Conflict of Interest

The three authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethics Approval

This study was approved by Washington University Institutional Review Board (#201709046).

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants in this study.

Additional information

Handling editor: Nataria Tennille Joseph

Supplementary information

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Liu, D.Y., Strube, M.J. & Thompson, R.J. Interpersonal Emotion Regulation: an Experience Sampling Study. Affec Sci 2, 273–288 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-021-00044-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-021-00044-y

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